VEGETABLES DESCRIPTION AND CULTURE. 233 



GARLIC. (AlUum sativum.) 



This is a hardy perennial from Sicily and the south of 

 France; it has been cultivated at least three hundred 

 years. There are two sorts, one with large and the other 

 with small bulbs ; each bulb consisting of a half dozen or 

 more small bulbs or -cloves. 



Culture. Garlic likes a dry, light, rich soil, but not 

 freshly manured ; the manure should be put on the pre- 

 ceding crop. Prepare the ground as directed for the rest 

 of the onion tribe, and mark it off into drills eight inches 

 apart. Plant the cloves four inches distant in the drills, 

 and two inches deep, and see that they are put in right 

 side up. Keep the ground free from weeds, and light by 

 frequent hoeing ; plant from October to March. 



A few roots may be taken up the latter part of May 

 for use as required, but do not lift the crop until the leaves 

 are withered. Break down the seed stalk if it rises, to 

 prevent it from running to seed, which would lessen the 

 size of the bulbs. 



When the leaves turn yellow, take up the bulbs and dry 

 them thoroughly in the shade, tie them together by the 

 tops, and lay them up for winter in a dry loft as you 

 would onions. If the ground is not needed for another 

 crop, they may remain to be drawn as wanted. 



Use. This plant has a well-known, strong penetrating 

 odor, which is most powerful at midday. In medicine it 

 is an excellent diaphoretic and expectorant; a diuretic 

 when taken internally, and has a reputation as an anthel- 

 mintic or worm destroyer. Some nations use it very 

 extensively for seasoning soups and stews, and indeed it 

 enters into almost every dish ; but in this country it is not 

 very much liked. Still, a very slight, scarcely perceptible 

 flavor, or, as the French have it, a soupqon (suspicion) of 

 garlic is not repugnant, but rather agreeable to most 

 tastes. The juice is a good cement for broken china. 



